Cyberbullying Claims Exaggerated

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While parents are scurrying around trying to protect their kids
from cyberbullying — on smartphones, iPads and the family
computer — a new study suggests that harassment is right where we
left it in the pre-Facebook days — in the lunchroom, in the
classroom and on the bus.

"Claims by the media and researchers that cyberbullying has
increased dramatically and is now a big school problem are
largely exaggerated," said psychologist Dan Olweus of the
University of Bergen, Norway, who conducted a thorough
investigation of U.S. students.

He said there's little scientific evidence to show
electronic-based abuse has increased over the past five to six
years. Traditional in-your-face attacks occur far more frequently
than those made online or by text message. Olweus discovered that
online abuse usually follows an in-person incident, a finding he
reported at an American Psychological Association conference in
Orange County, Calif.

But even lawmakers have succumbed to the hype.

"When I was growing up, you had a tangible bully and a fight
after school," New York state Sen. Jeffrey Klein, sponsor of a
bill to criminalize cyberbullying, said at a press conference.
"Now you have hordes of bullies who are terrorizing over the
Internet or other forms of social media."

Olweus's study included 450,000 U.S. students in grades three
through 12. About 18 percent of students said they had been
verbally abused in person, while about 5 percent said they had
been the target of an online attack. He found that most
cyberbullies were just as likely to taunt their victims
in-person.

Olweus believes that school prevention programs should focus on
traditional bullying, but still include abuse sent by devices,
which offers new ways to humiliate students.

While the prevalence of online tormenters may not be as
widespread media reports would have us believe, 48 states have
passed cyberbullying laws and some, including New York, are
looking to make them tougher. Most laws widen the legal
definition of harassment to include electronic means. Some
mandate school prevention programs, others grant schools
authority to suspend or expel a student, while North Carolina
makes it a crime.